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Legislative Update: Now is the Time to Take Action

Published in Legislative Updates on February 28, 2019

As you know, Essentially Women has been working for the past year to have custom breast prosthesis covered by Medicare. Custom Breast Prosthesis legislation is about making sure women have ALL of the choices available to them, whether it be reconstruction, off the shelf breast prosthesis, custom breast prosthesis or to go flat.

The beginning of 2019 has been busy already. I spent the first week of the year with Tom Powers, a key part of our Government Relations team, in Washington, D.C. drumming up support for the reintroduction of our legislation. Even though the government was shut down, we had very productive and hopeful meetings. We left D.C. with bipartisan support of our proposed legislation and confidence that we could get our legislation dropped early in the year.

After reworking the findings of the bills for broader support by key interest groups, the Breast Cancer Patient Equality Act bill was introduced by the Senate and House of Representatives on February 26, 2019. The bipartisan bills S. 562 and H.R. 1370 were co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), along with Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN).

Having the bills introduced is just one step in the process. Now, we need you to help drum up grassroots advocacy support from your clients and communities. Essentially Women is launching our new campaign, Let Her Decide, to advocate for the Breast Care Patient Equality Act. Toolkits are available to download at www.essentiallywomen.com/AdvocacyResources.

Our Government Relations team says that it takes about 10 years for a bill to be passed. We are very hopeful that this year will be the year. The Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act has strong bipartisan support. This bill could be the one that legislators hang their hat on.

For more information about the Let Her Decide campaign, go to www.letherdecide.org. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LetHerDecide and Twitter at _____

Legislation does not move without grassroots advocacy. Essentially Women is here to help assist you with navigating the complexities of the federal government. If you want to host an event in your office or want help with engaging with your elected officials, please let us know. Let your voices be heard on what custom breast prostheses means to your life.

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